Most people are surprised to find how much type isn’t set with fonts on the computer but hand drawn. This is usually the case with most old signs and billboards, made when type didn’t exist or just wasn’t easily accessible. Typography Served has posted a few nice examples of hand drawn type.

“Matthew Carter, a type designer and the recipient of a MacArthur genius grant, was recently approached in the street near his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A woman greeted him by name. “Have we met?” Mr Carter asked. No, she said, her daughter had pointed him out when they were driving down the street a few days before. “Is your daughter a graphic designer?” he inquired. “She’s in sixth grade,” came the reply.”